He can spend up to $1,000,000 for the right business

Buyer will consider firms up to an hour’s drive from Red Deer

This buyer will pay all my fees

He has up to $1 million dollars to invest in a Red Deer business or one located no more than an hour’s drive away.

He has signed a non-disclosure agreement

Wants an established firm not tied to the energy sector.

Would prefer a business where departing seller was in charge of marketing / account retention

May consider partnership with successful existing operator

Unlikely to favour O&G involvement at this time

The buyer will pay all me fees. Seller will be responsible for his own lawyer and accountant.

I have a Buyer

I have been approached by a local Red Deer investor looking to purchase an established business in the city or surrounding area no more than an hour’s drive away.

This client will pay all my fees. Seller will be responsible for his own legal costs.

This buyer will consider outright purchases or, in special cases, a buy-in or partnership with existing expertise.

His budget is around a million dollars and perhaps more if he leverages his extensive real estate holdings.

The business should be well established and somewhat immune from the current fortunes of the local energy industry.

Best Practice for Buyer Brokerage

The first step will be a call to the broker to get the buyer’s cell number.

The seller using his own cell or any other number not associated with the business will call the buyer to feel him out without revealing information that might identify the business.

Talks would continue only if this initial conversation ends with mutual interest declared by both sides.

Next Steps for a potential seller . . .

I’m the guy in the middle. At this stage, neither party has to know who the other is. All the buyer needs at this point are a brief description of your business, your product / service ‘type’ and your revenues.

If he is still interested, he’ll need to know your normalized cash flow to assess value. Your banker or accountant can do this for you (but may charge you). Or you can send me your latest tax filing or income statement with any identifying information blacked out.

I will come up with your normalized cash flow (maybe needing some clarifications as I delve deeper) and my take on the market value of your firm.

You will take this number to your banker or accountant to verify it is within the range of completed deals they see pass over their desks.

If we get everybody on side on value and products, you and the buyer can sit down and discuss operations and other matters until one of you walks away or the buyer is ready to propose a deal.